The Eternal Return
L'Éternel Retour
France • 1943
Director
Synopsis
Jean Cocteau—who wrote the script in his typical blend of the dreamlike and the mythic—and director Jean Delannoy transpose the immortal tale of Tristan and Isolde to 1940s France in this rhapsodic romantic fantasy starring the dashing Jean Marais as Patrice, a young man who falls in love with his uncle’s fiancée Nathalie (Madeleine Sologne). When she decides to go through with the marriage anyway, Patrice falls for another woman named Nathalie, but can’t get the first one out of his head.
Synopsis
Jean Cocteau—who wrote the script in his typical blend of the dreamlike and the mythic—and director Jean Delannoy transpose the immortal tale of Tristan and Isolde to 1940s France in this rhapsodic romantic fantasy starring the dashing Jean Marais as Patrice, a young man who falls in love with his uncle’s fiancée Nathalie (Madeleine Sologne). When she decides to go through with the marriage anyway, Patrice falls for another woman named Nathalie, but can’t get the first one out of his head.
Credits
Crew
DirectorJean Delannoy
WriterJean Cocteau
CinematographerRoger Hubert
ComposerGeorges Auric
EditorSuzette Fauvel
ProducerAndré Paulvé
Cast
Jean Maraisas Patrice
Madeleine Sologneas Nathalie la blonde
Yvonne de Brayas Gertrude Frossin
Jean Muratas Marc